ISTANBUL

The UAE has announced the postponement until Thursday of the launch of its spacecraft to explore the moon.

“Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre announces new launch date for the Emirates Lunar Mission, tomorrow, 1st of December at 12:37 PM (UAE time),” or 0837GMT, the official Emirates news agency said in a Wednesday tweet.

The center did not mention the reason for postponing the launch of the explorer Rashid.

Rashid was scheduled to launch Wednesday towards the moon’s surface from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the US state of Florida.

The explorer's journey, from its launch until its arrival on the moon's surface, will take about five months, while its main exploratory mission will take over 14 lunar days, according to the center.

On the surface of the moon, it added, the explorer will have six study tasks: rock science, plasma, dust, soil, data to develop new technologies, and collect data related to the origin of the solar system and planet Earth.

The explorer mission is the first Emirati and Arab mission to reach the surface of the moon to explore new areas.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report